Advance tickets are $11 for adults and $9 for children 12 and younger. Prices go up by $2 on the day of each show.

Derrick Rosaire, a man with bear training in his blood and the bite marks to prove it, will be showing off Chopper and Indian. The 10-year-old grizzlies were scheduled to be euthanized in Idaho when Rosaire's family got them, he said. Chopper weighs 750 pounds and stands more than 7 feet tall.

"He's like the Shaq of bears," Rosaire said.

Indian, a female, weighs 550 pounds and is about 6 feet tall.

They know how to wave, play on a slide and do a pyramid trick.

"They do some other stuff, too," Rosaire said. "But we don't like to put it all out there and spoil the show."

So how does a guy train a bear to do that stuff?

"Very carefully," Rosaire said.

"We use reward and repetition," he said. "They are a lot like dogs. They just bite harder. But when they know they will get a cookie for doing something right, they really concentrate."

Sherwood Kaiser, the executive circus administrator, said families and children can expect "practically an all-new show" compared to the one last year at the Civic Center.

The Chicago Boyz, an acrobatic team that performed last year, are the only performers from 2012 that will be returning for this year's circus, Kaiser said.

Kaiser has been a circus man for more than 20 years. For him, the circus never loses its luster.

"Seeing the kids — and I mean the kids of every age — is the best part of it for me," he said. "You show them the elephants or the acrobats or the clowns and their faces just light up. The circus is for the young at heart."

The proceeds of the Shrine Circus go toward philanthropic efforts of the Hejaz Temple.

"This is one of our big events," said Glenn Brill, Anderson County's director of parks, recreation and tourism. "It brings a crowd: parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents. It's a family event, a multigenerational event, that we are proud to be part of and it's for a good cause."